Personal Narrative: A Career As A Nurse

Growing up as a first generation Filipino American, many people in my family, including my mother, are nurses. As a child, I was always exposed to the hospital setting, and I would even wear my own pair of scrubs. One toy that I treasured the most was my plastic toy medical kit. I would always pretend to be a nurse and take care of my older sister whenever she was sick by feeling her temperature with my hand and tucking her into bed. I would use my play stethoscope to listen to her heart and bring her medication such as cough syrup that my mom poured out. In the first grade, I had a project to draw what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I drew myself as a nurse wearing scrubs and a stethoscope. I never really had a reason as to why I wanted to be a nurse other than my mother until I entered high school.
` As a child, I did not understand the importance of a nurse in health care or what they did. Many people I knew would subordinate a nurse’s position to a caretaker for
The patient looked as if he was only composed of skin and bone, almost skeleton-like. When I would walk into the room, he would have a somber expression and look miserable. He was upset that there was a chance he would not be able to attend his only daughter’s wedding in a few months. Throughout the next few months, I was able to watch him become healthier and healthier through the care of the nursing staff. I would watch the nurses build a personal relationship with this patient during his most vulnerable times and bring life back to him. When I first arrived on the floor, the patient would have difficulty walking around the floor, but now he was able to walk at a faster pace multiple times around the unit. He was no longer gloomy and had a smile on his face. All the nurses were elated with the progress of the patient, and he was able to attend his daughter’s wedding and dance with